Emily's Background Qualifies Her to Serve on the Board

A Snap-Shot:

As a current parent and teacher of students in the WCSD, electing me will afford the Board the opportunity to have someone from the trenches who understands education in a way that few Board members ever have.

I also am connected to the community and know how to collaborate with non-profits, businesses and those at the state level, which gives me insights into how our education system affects the economy of our local and state entities.

Having served on a school board down in Carson, I was brought in to help fix a sticky legal situation, and the informed work that I did there with other members helped the Board make a difficult decision, allowing the school to stay open for three more years, versus being closed at the end of this school year. I grasp school budgets, Open Meeting Laws and how Trustee decisions affect those in and out of the trenches.

As a professional communicator and writer, and throughout my campaign, I have initiated the difficult task of building credibility with voters by communicating the work of the Board and education in all aspects. I will continue to do this as your elected representative for District D.

I am unafraid to chat with voters, visit and investigate the facilities which help our district to run smoothly, and have been one of the few candidates in all the Trustee districts to spread the messages that will lead to the Board of Trustees being an entity of which taxpayers can be proud.

More Details:

STUDENTS: Emily is the mother of three amazing children, all students in the Washoe County School District. They have attended the following schools over their lives, and have all been blessed by their teachers and administrators: Jerry Whitehead Elementary, Roy Gomm Elementary, Westergard Elementary, Rollan Melton Elementary, Clayton Middle School and McQueen High School. Emily has been a single mom since 2009, maintaining an excellent and amicable relationship with Maddie, Kate and Thomas' father, Devon Reese, who lives in District E near McQueen. Emily lives in the Old Southwest and is running for the Board of Trustees seat, District D, primarily the schools zoned for Wooster and Reno High.

TEACHERS: While Emily was married, she served as a substitute teacher through the WCSD, as well as the P.E. instructor at her kids' first elementary school, Jerry Whitehead, in Sparks. She also served as the Freshman Girls Basketball Coach at McQueen for a year. Through those experiences, she became interested in becoming an educator, and in 2010, began classes at Sierra Nevada College for her Masters in Education. Once she received her teaching license, she took a full time, contracted position at Rainshadow Community Charter High School, a WCSD sponsored charter school, serving an at-risk population of WCSD students to help them toward graduation. Emily has a passion for reaching students where they are, pushing them with high standards and rigor, and giving them all the tools they need to make the right choices toward graduating and becoming impactful community members. Emily treats her students with respect, encourages critical thinking, and works with the staff in a problem-solving, communicative manner. Emily's experience as a teacher, reaching students on the fringe, and understanding the WCSD requirements and goals, makes her an excellent candidate for the Board of Trustees. It is time for a teacher to serve on the Board.

COMMUNICATION: Emily's life has given her precious opportunity to practice her communication skills. Through her experiences with colon cancer and her unique family situation, she has been able to be transparent about her life through writing and speaking. This includes many media appearances as a spokesperson for non-profit organizations, radio hosting, emceeing, motivational stage performances and play performances in local theater. She has had her writing published in the Reno Tahoe Tonight Magazine, Huffington Post, Straight Spouse Network, and her own blog, which is a valuable international resource. Her recent TEDxTalk was the very first of its genre to ever be recorded on a TEDTalk stage.

Being a part of the amazing school staff at Rainshadow has also given her understanding as to how a successful teaching staff can operate. Knowing the importance of transparency, teamwork and communication, Emily is committed to improving the communication between the Board and the public, which has been an area that has needed serious improvement. As an elected board member, she will seek to get the times for Board of Trustee meetings to a reasonable time where both educators and parents can more easily attend; the 2-5 p.m. meeting times show a lack of willingness to be open to the needs of those the Board is elected to serve. Healing the broken trust between the tax paying public and the Board of Trustees must begin with transparent, frequent communication.